


On a Bad Day

by thepottermalfoyproblem



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Blink And You Miss It Slash, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Angst, Noctis runs out of spoons, Past Injuries, theres a price to pay for magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-23
Updated: 2017-03-23
Packaged: 2018-10-09 11:53:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10411572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepottermalfoyproblem/pseuds/thepottermalfoyproblem
Summary: Noctis tries very hard to be the best prince he can be, but some days his efforts catch up with him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I blame ishery for this. (Not really, the angst was going to happen eventually.)

They’re a day out from Lestallum coming back from a hunt when it happens.

Ignis and Gladio were sharing breakfast in the diner when Prompto got back from his morning run. Noctis still laying abed, dead to the world, wasn’t too unusual, so Prompto thought nothing of it as he hit the shower. It is only when he stepped back out of the steamy bathroom, toweling off his hair, that he frowned at his friend.

“Hey, sleeping beauty, lets get breakfast.”

The lump of blankets and prince on the bed whimpered piteously and curled up into a ball. Prompto’s frown deepened and he made his way over to the bed, sitting on the side and putting a gentle hand on Noct’s shoulder. “You ok?”

Noct shook his head, sinking further into the blankets. He sniffed then, and upon closer inspection Prompto saw the drying tear tracks on his face.

“Shit, Noct. You want me to go get Iggy?” When Noctis bit his lip and nodded twice, Prompto squeezed his shoulder lightly and sprinted across the parking lot to the diner. He slammed through the open door, skidding to a stop in front of the table where Ignis and Gladio sat, quietly enjoying breakfast.

Ignis folded down his newspaper with a sigh, opening his mouth to rebuke Prompto for his interruption, but Gladio kicked him under the table and jerked his head towards the blond. The advisor’s irritation faded into concern as he took in the worried and slightly frantic look on Prompto’s face.

“Everything alright, Prompto?” he asked, though he knew the answer already.

“No,” panted Prompto, leaning heavily on the table. “Something’s wrong with Noct. He’s curled up in bed crying and wanted me to come get you.”

Ignis’s face fell. “Shit.” He slid out of the booth, pushing Prompto into his seat. “Keep Gladio company, I’ll go check on the prince.”

He left the diner with more haste than Prompto had ever seen him employ, sprinting across the parking lot towards the motel room. Gladio sighed and folded Ignis’s abandoned newspaper, glancing out the window with a worried crease across his brow.

Prompto knew immediately that there’s something more here than Noct feeling ill.

“This isn’t new, is it? It’s just the first time I’ve been around when it happens,” he said, guts suddenly feeling like stone instead of flesh.

“No,” said Gladio quietly. “It’s not new. Noctis is lucky he can walk, much less fight.” At Prompto’s alarmed expression, Gladio sighed again, signaling the waitress for another cup of coffee. When it arrives, he pushed it across the table and Prompto gripped it mechanically, more for warmth than anything else.

Gladio said nothing for a long time, then began slowly. “I don’t know how much Noct’s told you about his injuries as a child. Most of the time he shrugs them off, but sometimes they catch up to him.” His knuckles tightened around his own coffee mug, and Prompto saw his hands shake as he took a long drink.

“I know he wears a knee brace,” says Prompto, worrying his lip as he though back to all the school days Noct had missed, and then laughed off as _oh, you know, I overslept_. Maybe he hadn’t overslept after all.

“Yeah, that’s on his good days,” growled Gladio into his coffee. “Thank the Astrals most of his days are good ones. It’s the one fucking blessing they give for literally draining his life force away. Why the fuck do you think he sleeps all the time? Between magic and the physical strain of doing what we do, its a Astral-damned miracle he can still walk.” He set his coffee mug down with more force than necessary, sloshing hot liquid over his hands and onto the neatly folded newspaper. “Fuck.”

Prompto scrambled for napkins, mopping up most of the spill. “I didn’t know. I thought he had to form a pact with the crystal for that?”

Gladio laughed, but there’s no humor in the sound. “He’s gotta form a pact to become king, the covenant between the crystal and his family says nothing about draining his energy from the day he’s born ‘til the day he dies. Add that to multiple horrific childhood injuries, and you get a prince who can barely function when he’s overdone it.”

“The hunt yesterday,” said Prompto, understanding finally dawning. “He seemed more tired than usual, but we all were pretty exhausted. And he’s normally asleep before the rest of us anyway…”

“So none of us noticed. Yeah,” Gladio pinched the bridge of his nose, a habit he’d picked up from Ignis somewhere along the way. “Noct probably was gonna try and tough it out, but woke up this morning unable to move.”

Both men looked up as Ignis stormed back into the diner, mouth set in a grim line. “We’re staying here another day,” he said without preamble. “I’m going to see if the cook here will let me take over the kitchen for a bit so I can cook something Noctis will eat.”

“How bad?” said Gladio quietly.

“If we are very lucky, he can at least walk to the car tomorrow and we can go back to Lestallum,” said Ignis flatly. “Astrals, I should have noticed he was overdoing it.” Ignis clenched his fist tightly enough that Prompto thought he might draw blood, took a deep calming breath, then turned to the cook and started in on asking to use the kitchen like there was nothing wrong at all.

Prompto quirked an eyebrow at Gladio, who shrugged. “Go on then, Prompto. I know you wanna get back to Noct. Iggy will be in here all day making all sorts of trouble, and somebody needs to be with the prince.”

“Alright.” Prompto nodded fervently, scrambling out of his seat. “I’ll grab a couple movies from the CinemaBox in the gas station, it might help?”

“It might,” agreed Gladio, eyes following Ignis as he followed the harried cook back and forth across the kitchen space.

Promto huffed out an amused laugh, Gladio was anything but subtle, and headed back outside.

——

“I didn’t want you to see me like this,” mumbled Noctis as soon as Prompto pushed through the door to their motel room.

The blond dumped his handful of movies on the tv stand and turned to look at Noctis skeptically. “Like what?”

“Who wants a king who has to be carried to the bathroom so he can piss? Who wants a king who’s so weak that fighting one monster lands him on his ass for a solid day?” Noctis, propped up with a veritable mountain of pillows, clenched his fists into the sheets while frustrated tears welled in his eyes. “I’m so tired my bones ache, and I couldn’t even sit up this morning without Iggy’s help. These are simple things and yet I can’t do them at all sometimes. I don’t want you to pity me, so I never said anything.” His voice shook and Prompto crossed the room in three long strides, crawling onto the bed beside his friend.

He wrapped an arm around Noct’s shoulders, gently pulling him close. “I don’t pity you, Noct. I wish you’d told me earlier so I could have helped, but that’s not pity. That’s being your friend.”

Noctis sniffed, leaning in until he was a warm, sleepy weight pressed against Prompto’s side. “Yeah, I guess. If I’d told you maybe I could have stolen your body heat earlier. Feels nice, doesn’t hurt as much.”

“I brought some movies, but maybe you should take a nap first?” Prompto suggested. Noctis nodded, curled up under his arm. Within moments his breathing had evened out into the slow, deep breaths of sleep.

And if Prompto pressed a gentle kiss to the top of his friend’s head before letting a nap claim him as well, none can say.

**Author's Note:**

> This was heavily influenced by some of my own experiences and the experiences of friends. Chronic illness and injury are no laughing matter. T.T  
> (after some thought, I feel the need to add that the personal experience I bring to the table is more depression and a weird reoccurring unidentified illness I had as a kid that left me bedridden some days, and less current chronic illness. But, like I said, no laughing matter either way.)
> 
> Credit to ishery for coming up with the idea that the crystal takes a toll on Noctis and that's why he sleeps all the time.


End file.
